Lesson I
Anyone may read the Bible and find a degree of profit just from reading
it but only a believer can study the Bible.
Bible study belongs to born again, saved, believing people, to those who
have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. In John 3:1-3 Nicodemus came to Jesus
inviting Jesus to teach him. “We know that thou art a teacher come from God”,
said Nicodemus. But Jesus said,
Nicodemus, you need to be born again before I teach you. That is always first. Don’t try to teach people who are dead
in trespasses and sins. Cf Ephesians 2:1.
1 Corinthians 2:14 states, “The natural man, (the unsaved man) receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God
for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them.” So, we begin this class believing that you are
here in class as a believer.
We are here for serious Bible study.
Now one must use his head to do that! McDowell says, “My head and my heart are
connected. God does not ask my head to
accept what my heart rejects or my heart to accept what my head rejects.” I like those words and I often ponder them. You see, one does not have to be crazy to be a
Christian! In 1978 a young man said to
me: “My seniors tell me that I am
getting so intellectual regarding the Bible that I will lose out emotionally.” But he added, “I have found that intellectual
involvement in Bible study stirs my emotions beyond anything else.” Fred Nears said: “Preachers often try to
bring me alive and work me up. But I
have found that nothing stirs me up more than something good out of the Bible.” World religions can only be accepted by bypassing
one’s intellect. Christianity can only
be accepted by using one’s intellect. I
have also discovered that false cults and false doctrines can only be accepted
by insulting one’s brain.
2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Study the Word of truth.” One can only do that by using one’s head.
Acts 17:11
(11) These were more noble
than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness
of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
The noble Bereans “searched the Scriptures
daily.” That can’t be done without using
one’s brain.
Daniel 9:2
(2) In the first year
of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the
word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy
years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
“Daniel understood by books.”
Reading can only be done by using one’s brain.
2 Timothy 4:13
(13) The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus,
when thou comest, bring [with thee], and the books, [but]
especially the parchments.
2 Timothy 4:13 from prison Paul wrote; “Bring the books”. The great Apostle wanted
books! He had had revelations beyond
measure. Yet he wanted books.
He had been to the Third Heaven
but still wanted books! What am I saying? If we are going to have profitable
Bible study we must reason together, examine the recorded facts, then
endeavour to draw proper conclusions. And in order to do that we must use the brains
which have been given to us by God Himself.
Our subject will lead us into many areas of study. Because Ezekiel was a prophet of Israel with
a message primarily to Israel and about Israel—we will be looking at prophecies
regarding that Nation which are now history and other prophecies not yet
history. We will look at the Land of
Israel in past history; the land as it is today; the cause of the conflict in
that Land; the prophecy of a great army from the north that will invade that
land; the new temple to be built in Jerusalem; the return of Christ to that
same land and the predicted divisions of the land for the tribes of Israel. We shall endeavour
to illustrate how we interpret the whole Bible; how the subject matter of Bible
History, Bible Geography and Bible Prophecy are all linked together. Of necessity there will be some repetition
from other classes.
Like the Book of Revelation, Ezekiel is prophetic.
Vernon McGee writes: “The study of prophecy will not lead us to
sensationalism and fanaticism, but it will lead us to a life of holiness and
fear of God.”
“Prophecy is serious, not sensational stuff,” Christianity Today, December 11,1981, page
30.
David R. Reagan wrote: “I’m
tired of reading sensationalist prophecy books.”
An example: “I recently received
a letter from a radio listener who said her pastor had preached a whole sermon
on a rumor he had heard from some prophecy teacher. The rumor, believe it or not, was that the
building blocks of the next Jewish Temple have been cut and numbered, and the
blocks have been stored in K-Marts across the United States, waiting for the
call to ship them to Jerusalem.”
Such a report is, of course, ridiculous. It is this kind of thing that has turned
honest people away from the study of prophecy. But there is prophecy in the Bible and we do
well to study it.
1 John 3: 3
(3) And every man that
hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he
is pure.
According to 1 John 3: 3, one purpose of prophecy is to purify our
lives and living. “If the study of Bible
prophecy does not lead to better Christian living, it can be more harmful than helpful.”
So may the Lord help us and direct us as
we study together.
Introduction
The
Bible is a neglected Book. The Old Testament
is more neglected than the New Testament.
The O.T. Prophets are more neglected than the Psalms or Proverbs. The most neglected book is Ezekiel. What are the reasons for this neglect?
a. Ezekiel has been
called the fanatic because of chapter one.
b. There has been
and is a great neglect of Bible teaching relative to prophecy in many Churches.
Ezekiel was a forth-teller as well as a fore-teller. Thus there are great prophecies in Ezekiel
that cannot be ignored. One may guess
the future but only God can reveal it.
A false prophet can be correct 95% of the time and fail only 5 % of the
time. A true prophet must be correct
100%. One failed prophecy is not
allowed. We shall notice that Ezekiel
chapter 13 deals with the subject of “false prophets.” The only way to know the false is by getting
to know the true prophets as found in Scripture.
Twenty five years ago what B. Ramm called the
Green
Grass Evangelicals started to bloom in Evangelical churches and
denominations. They were not interested
in doctrine, and especially not interested in Bible prophecy. They considered this to be “better
judgment.” But when we remember that
over one- quarter of the Bible, when written, was written as prophecy, how can
we neglect the subject, and at the same time “declare the whole counsel of God”?
Acts 20:27
(27) For I have not
shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
2 Peter 1:17- 21
(17) For he received
from God the Father honour and glory, when there came
such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased.
(18) And this voice
which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
(19) We have also a
more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a
light that shineth in a dark place, until the day
dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
(20) Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private
interpretation.
(21) For the prophecy
came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake [as they were] moved by the Holy Ghost.
Jude 3
(3) Beloved, when I gave
all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me
to write unto you, and exhort [you] that ye should earnestly contend for the
faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
2 Peter 1:17- 21 refers to the whole Bible as a “more sure word of
prophecy” whereunto we do well that we take heed as unto “a light that shineth in a dark place.”
For one, like myself, who was taught the
importance of doctrine and the need for “contending earnestly for the faith”
(Jude 3), this trend in Evangelical Churches is disturbing. It seems to me that experiences not tied to
the Scriptures will eventually lead away from the sure foundation of the
Scriptures. And I ask: are we not seeing
this happen today?
C.H Spurgeon has recorded the following (Memorial Library, Vol. 8, page
60), “Martin Luther said, ‘I have covenanted with my Lord that He should not
send me visions, or dreams, or even an Angel.
I am content with this one gift of the Scriptures, which abundantly
teaches and supplies all that is necessary, both for life and that which is to
come’.”
The Book Kingdom of the Cults, page 284:
The Unity School of thought states:
“Scriptures may be a satisfactory authority for those who are not
themselves in direct communication with the Lord.” In other words, if you have direct
communication with the Lord you will have a source of satisfaction above
and beyond
the Scriptures.
John Hartman told me that in conversation with an East Indian about the
Bible, this man said: “my learning is
above that”. And when anyone thinks they
have learning above the Scriptures, you can be sure they will be led astray and
will lead others astray. Is there
anything in this world higher than the Word of God?
I quote A. Katz from his book The Holocaust page 10: “Our attitude
towards Gods Word is our attitude toward God.
To reject God’s Word is to reject God.”
Our
first consideration in this introduction:
Is the oft repeated words in Ezekiel “the Word of the Lord came”.
Ezekiel 1: 3;
6: 1,3,11,
7: 1;
11: 14;
12: 1,17,21,26,28;
13: 1;
14: 2,12,21;
15: 1;
16: 1,35,48,59;
17: 1,2,11,19;
18: 1;
20: 2,5,27,30,33,45;
21: 1,28,32,35;
22: 1,3,12,17,23;
23: 1,28,32,35;
24: 1,9,14,15;
25: 1,8,12,15;
26: 1;
27: 1;
28: 1,11,20,25;
29: 1,8,19;
30: 1,13,20,22;
31: 1,10;
32: 1,17;
33: 1,11,23;
34: 1,8,11,20;
35: 1,11,14;
36: 1,2,3,6,7,13,16,22,33,37;
37: 4,9,12,15,19,21;
38: 1,10,14,17;
39: 1,17,25;
43: 18;
44: 2,5,6,9;
45: 9,18;
46: 1,16;
47: 13;
48: 29.
History proves that Ezekiel’s message was from the Lord.
A.T. Pierson, Many Infallible
Proofs, page 31: “Prophecy unmistakably outlining events
beforehand, shows that God is behind the curtain, and that His Hand controls
and shapes the history and destiny of men.”
Page 32 “Nothing therefore can be of more importance to a Bible student
than a mastery of the prophetic Scriptures. Prophecies, already fulfilled, put the clear
broad seal of God upon the Bible; prophecies unfulfilled, serve to inform our
faith as the coming developments, and project us forward to the consummate
wonders of the final day of victory.”
For almost two thousand years the Christian Church accepted a fully
authoritative Scripture, quote from Moody Monthly. However, what has shaken the
evangelical community in recent years is the growing number within its ranks
who have declared the Bible only partially trustworthy.
I quote from a letter I received written to me after a radio broadcast
about 25 years ago.
“Mr. Pritchard said: “It isn’t
important what the Church says, it’s what the Bible says that counts. I would remind this Bible teacher that the
Bible did not create the Church, the Scripture is the product of the Church.”
Let me reply to that before reading more of the letter. I would ask this Evangelical, what is the
Church without the Bible? What is to be
preached if the Church does not preach the Bible? As we shall see, the Bible itself claims to be
the work
of God, not a work of men. All
other works or books are but works of men, but the Bible claims to have come
from God Himself. 1 John
1 John 5:10
(10) He that believeth on the Son of God hath the
witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he
believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.
The letter continues: “Scriptures
are the product of man. They are the
same time the Word of God.” My comment:
I would like that statement to be, The Bible is the Word of God even though men
were used to produce it. Men held the
pen but God did the writing.
The writer of the letter then quotes Karl Barth, “From one point of
view, the Bible is not the Word of God. It
is the word of men. As a book it is just
a mass of paper, printed with ink. But
it becomes God’s Word in the event of revelation.” Then the letter writer adds: “Evangelical
scholars do not hold that the Bible is infallible.” This is an example of the direction
evangelicalism has been going in recent years.
My comment: I understand Barth’s
words to mean, if the Bible does something for you, then for you
it is the Word of God. In other words,
your experience makes the Word of God the Word of God! I remember the words of
A.H. Gillett: “My experience adds nothing to the Bible. My lack of experience subtracts nothing from
the Bible.” Regardless of your experience;
regardless of your lack of experience, the Bible is the Word of God. Nothing can change that! It is my opinion that the writer of this
letter has a very low view of Scripture. It is also my opinion that the Church of
today, in most cases, has lost the love for the Bible that my fathers and my
generation had for it.
Earlier in this paper, I made reference to Bertrand Ramm
and his editorial in Eternity magazine about Green
Grass Evangelicals.
He stated in Point one: Green Grass Evangelicals
are not interested in doctrinal questions like eternal security. To them such issues are too academic.
My comment: That will lead to
not being interested in doctrine at all, which in turn will lead to what M. Muggeridge said about his denomination. “They agreed on almost everything because they
believed almost nothing.”
Point
two: Green Grass Evangelicals think
that the whole Christianity and science bit, including the controversy over
evolution, is not really where the action is....”
Again my comment: Genesis 1:1 is
very important. One must believe that
verse or evolution. One cannot accept
both.
Point
three: Green Grass Evangelicals are
not much interested in prophecy or the millennium or details about the
tribulation.”
My comment: This will finally
lead back to modernism that rejects the Second Coming
altogether.
Point
four: Green Grass Evangelicals
believe that debates over Scripture (infallibility, inerrancy) pay no great
dividends. They are more experience
centered.
My comment: This is serious for
it leads to holding a Bible that no longer speaks with authority.
Point
five Green Grace Evangelicals are
more informed about psychology than their elders in the faith.
My comment: When preachers in
our pulpits proclaim human psychology rather than Bible theology, the pulpits
will become weaker and weaker and influence in the lives of Christians will
become less and less.
Point
six: Green Grass Evangelicals believe
that the real case for Christian faith is the authority of the lifestyle of
Christians.
My comment: That kind of
thinking is partially true, but it will lead farther and farther away from the
power of the gospel. It is the
proclamation of the gospel that changes the lifestyles of men and women. “The gospel is the power of God unto salvation.”
Romans 1:16
Point
seven:. Green Grass Evangelicals have a much greater
social concern than previous Evangelicals.
My comment: The sad fact here is
that many evangelicals are now more concerned about the body than they are about
the soul. The temporal rather
than the eternal.
Finally:, Green grass
Evangelicals see art as a prime means of expressing ones faith.
My comment: This is being seen
more and more in the ever-increasing drama and dance in the house of worship. When Paul went to
Acts 17:16
(16) Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his
spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.
That is what he thought of the arts in his day! Recently I heard the following words on a
T.V. program: “The Body is something to worship, in a sense.” Another evangelical pastor announced his
sermon title, “Celebrate your sexuality”!
Unless
we read history we will not see the seriousness of what is happening.
As early as 1878, Bible Study Conferences were being held in America. An Annual Meeting was held in Niagara, New
York, from 1883 until 1897. These
conferences were spearheaded by James H. Brooks and A.J. Gordon. Niagara was a Bible Study Conference that met
together to “inductively study the Bible with an eye on answering attacks on
the Bible coming from a growing modernist movement.”
In an effort to stem the tide, in 1910 the General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church issued the five fundamentals of the faith which included:
1.
The Inspiration of the Scriptures,
2.
The Virgin Birth,
3.
The substitutionary
atonement,
4.
The resurrection of Christ,
5.
The miracles of Christ.
Those who subscribed to these five points were labeled Fundamentalists,
and so a new word was coined. Those who
denied these fundamentals were called Modernists or Liberals.
The decade of the 1920’s was characterized by the great
Modernist-Fundamentalist battles. There
were many attempts to fight Modernism from within the Church. But towards the end of the decade it became
apparent that the Modernists were firmly in control of both the denominational
Church positions (this included all the major denominations except the Southern
Baptist Convention) and their schools.
This led to the separatist movements of the 1930’s as the
fundamentalists pulled out of the denominations either by starting new
denominations or by forming independent Churches. The schisms that the Bible predicted would
occur as a result of apostasy began to occur in the separatist movements of the
1930’s.
The 1940’s saw the rise of ecumenical movements. We have often thought it very significant
that in 1948, the year Israel was re-born as a Nation, was also the year that the
World Council of Churches was organized, the main aim of which has been to
bring all religions together
To this history should be added the fact that in 1909 C.I. Scofield published his study Bible. Few know that it was published to combat
modernism. In 1944 a brother took my Scofield Bible and said to me: “When it was published it
stemmed the growth of modernism, but it is outdated today.” I disagreed with his words then and I do now.
Apart from the history above, also in 1909, the pastor of
John MacArthur in his book, Ashamed of the Gospel, writes about C.H. Spurgeon’s
battle with Modernism in England. Spurgeon called it, “the down-grade of the
Church”.
I also have a book entitled The Scottish Pulpit which tells
about the “Moderates” coming into the Church of Scotland.
My point in all of this history is this: True Evangelicals came out
of Modernism. Such was my own mother’s
experience when she was saved in 1918. Now
I see clearly, we Evangelicals face the danger of going back into that out
of which our fathers’ generation came. So
we ask, what place do we give the Bible in our
Christianity?
2Timothy 3:16-17
(16) All scripture [is]
given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness:
(17) That the man of
God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good
works.
I never dreamed that the sufficiency of Scripture would ever be
questioned by Evangelicals. Certainly, 2
Timothy 3:16-17 teaches such. How can
“the man of God be thoroughly furnished unto all good works”, if the Scriptures
are not sufficient?
Isaiah 8:20 “To the law and to
the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is
no light in them.”
Proverbs 30:5-6 “Every word of God is pure:
he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he
reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”
Revelation 22:18-19 warns against additions or subtractions from this
Book.
Yet in the book Power Religion by John MacArthur,
page 77, I find the following.
A man by the name of John Deere is quoted as having said, “In order to
fulfill God’s highest purpose for our lives we must be able to hear His voice
both in the written Word and in the Word freshly spoken from Heaven.... Satan understands the strategic importance of
Christians hearing God’s voice so he has launched various attacks against this
area... Ultimately this doctrine
(sufficiency of Scripture) is Demonic even though Christian Theologians have
been used to perfect it.” (end quote)
When we begin to even question the authority of Scripture we will soon
be in deep trouble. Jude has a special
message for the last days of the Church age.
Jude was constrained by the Spirit to write to saints and urge them to contend
for the faith once (once for all) delivered to the saints.
We do not need a new message. We
do not need to expect that a new message will be given. We are to contend earnestly for the faith,
the message, already delivered in this Book, the Bible, which has been
committed to our trust. If new revelations
are needed, then our fathers and past generations were short-changed! But that is not so.
Colossians 3:1-3
(1) If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where
Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
(2) Set your affection
on things above, not on things on the earth.
(3) For ye are dead,
and your life is hid with Christ in God.
It is my opinion that recent “health” and “wealth” doctrines were a
product of ignorance of true spiritual matters. These doctrines have been turning the eyes of
many believers away from the unseen, eternal, to the seen
and temporal things. It has actually
been carnal theology. We are instructed
in Colossians 3:1-3 to “seek” those things which are above and to “set” our
affection there. If one dares to believe
the Scriptures, these teachings one will avoid. They have ruined many saints. Believers do have troubles. Believers do
have trials. Believers do have
sickness. Believers do know what it is to
suffer. And in the last days we are promised
that such will increase (2 Timothy 3:12).
2 Timothy 3:12
(12) Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Unbelief has always questioned the Bible. I have a book entitled Bible Mystery and Meaning and
on page 187 I read, “Since God is Being, the Devil is not-Being. And so we are met by the paradox that though
the Bible says so much about the Devil, yet the Devil does not exist.” Oh
the awfulness of unbelief! Saints cannot
afford to be ignorant of the Devil’s ways which are clearly set forth in the
Scriptures. The Devil works on the minds
of non-believers and believers. And his
greatest work is deception. He is the
deceiver! The Devil is not in the
business of making good people bad. His
business is to make bad people think they are good.
John 8:44
(44) Ye are of [your]
father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer
from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in
him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh
of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
It was to the outwardly good Pharisees that Jesus said, “Ye are of your
father the devil.” (John 8:44). The
Devil does his greatest work in pulpits where men are told that they are not
sinners in need of a Saviour. His
deception will almost be without bounds as we move nearer to the end of this
age. (See Matthew 24.)
Five hundred years ago a group of people came out of the Roman Catholic
system and became known as Protestants.
The Roman system “added to the authority of Scripture, the
authority of the Pope, the Church, traditions and dogmas.” Those who became know as “Protestants”
accepted the authority of the Bible alone, and because of that, they accepted
the equal priesthood of all believers.
But now, in the last few years, 20 leading Evangelicals and 20 Roman
Catholic priests have drawn up a paper entitled, “Evangelicals and Catholics
Together.” This has brought to the fore
the danger of going back. Much of this
going
back is being encouraged by those who have been mistaken as to the
interpretation of John 17, “that they all may be one.” This was never intended to bring about unity
among so-called religious faiths, even when false. The prayer of Jesus was answered when all
believers were baptized into Christ. So
that Paul could write in Ephesians 4:4, “there is one body.” Perhaps the
great sin of the current Church is to try to unite what God says cannot be
united. “What communion hath light with
darkness”?
2 Cor
6:14
(14) Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship
hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what
communion hath light with darkness?
For anyone who may think that the Church could never go
back under Romanism, I suggest one read the Old Testament and see how
quickly
We read of Evangelical Christians who accept that fornication and adultery
can be right “sometimes”! There are
Christians who accept abortion and a growing number who accept homosexuality as
an acceptable life-style. They even
bless homosexual and lesbian marriages. Is
this not the way back to heathenism?
R.A. Torrey wrote: “I believe in
the Bible because I believe in Jesus Christ and I believe in Jesus Christ
because I believe in the Bible.” To
treasure Christ is to treasure the Bible. To treasure the Bible is to treasure
Christ. True Christianity has always
treasured the Scriptures. In fact there
is no Christianity apart from the Bible. To depart from the Scriptures is to depart
from Christianity.
Think about these facts:
Jesus had gone down into death, down into Hades. He had come back from death. He ascended to heaven then returned to earth
in His resurrected body. And what did he
do?
Luke 24:25-27,32,45
(25) Then he said unto
them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
(26) Ought not Christ
to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
(27) And beginning at
Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the
things concerning himself.
(32) And they said one
to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he
talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
(45) Then opened he
their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
Luke 24:25-27 He expounded the Scriptures.
Luke 24:32 He opened the Scriptures.
Luke 24:45 He opened the eyes of the
disciples that they might understand the Scriptures.
It is evident that Jesus gave first place to the Scriptures above
His experiences. If Jesus did not take
the Scriptures lightly, we should not.
2 Timothy 3:7
(7) Ever learning, and
never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
“Any Church, school, home, college-campus that begins by questioning
the authority of Scripture will not have a proper atmosphere for the study of
the Scriptures.” Any education that has
departed from God and His Word will continue to learn but never learn (2
Timothy 3:7).
2 Peter 1:19-21
(19) We have also a
more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a
light that shineth in a dark place, until the day
dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
(20) Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private
interpretation.
(21) For the prophecy
came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake [as they were] moved by the Holy Ghost.
Peter had been on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus. There, without question, he heard the voice of
God. What an experience! But what does
Peter do?
He writes in 2 Peter 1:19-20, “We have a more sure word of prophecy
that we do well to heed.” And in verse
21 he tells us that he means Holy Scripture.
2 Corinthians 12:2
(2) I knew a man in
Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or
whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught
up to the third heaven.
1 Corinthians 14:37
(37) If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him
acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the
Lord.
Paul had been to the Third Heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2). What an experience! But he turned the attention of the Corinthians,
not to his experiences, but to his inspired writings. “The things I write are
the commandments of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 14:37).
In Acts chapter 7, Stephen, full of the Holy Ghost, preached a sermon
filled with Old Testament Scriptures.
In Acts chapter 8, Philip preached Christ from the book of Isaiah.
2 Timothy 4:1-2
(1) I charge [thee]
therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and
the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
(2) Preach the word;
be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all
longsuffering and doctrine.
Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:1-2 to “preach the Word.” Have we lost faith in what the Bible is? Have we lost faith in what it can do?
In 1995 Bill Nixon lent me a book entitled, The Other Side of the Gospel. The book contained writings by prominent
Evangelical theologians expressing their views regarding Hell and eternal
punishment, subjects they no longer believe!
I wrote a note in that book as follows:
“After reading this book the less respect I have for the learned
theologians and the more respect I have for the old farmers who taught me the
Bible because they loved it.”
Some denominations are changing the words of old hymns because they no
longer believe the Bible. By way of
example, “Amazing Grace” no longer has the words, “that saved a wretch like me”
because the word “wretch” destroys one’s self esteem. Today people are being led away by their love
for what is called “the prophetic word” and “word of knowledge”, all replacing
their love for the Scriptures, the more sure Word.
A brother told me the following. He was having a meeting in the east. A lady came and asked, “Do you have a word
from the Lord for me?” As he began to quote
Scripture, the lady said, “NOT THAT, I want a prophetic word!”
C.H. Macintosh wrote and I quote:
“There is nothing like
Scripture. The Bible is the book for
every day. A Book for
every age. A Book for every class,
high or low, rich or poor, old or young, learned or ignorant. It speaks in a language so simple that a child
can understand it and yet so profound that the most gigantic intellect cannot
exhaust it.
Moreover, it speaks right to
the heart. It displays a perfect
acquaintance with man in every stage of his history. Human life in every stage of its development
is portrayed by a master hand in that wonderful volume which God has graciously
planned for our learning.
What a privilege to possess
such a Book! The Book judges man, judges his heart. Hence man does not like the Book. He would rather read the reports of a trial in
one of our criminal courts, than a chapter of the New Testament. The Devil hates the Word of God. Ungodly men
judge Scripture. But man is no more
competent to judge Scripture than he is to judge God. Hath God said? We reply with intense delight, Yes. Blessed be His
Name. He has spoken.”
So we will read Ezekiel to hear God speak to us.
When Paul wrote about the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:15 he wrote, “For
this we say unto you by The Word of the Lord….”
So
we will remember that Ezekiel claims the same authority for his writing as Paul
claimed for his: “The word of the Lord
came to me....”